The Life and Works of S.E. Hinton Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

The Life and Works of S.E. Hinton - Essay Example S.E. Hinton boasts of seven bestselling novels (The Outsiders (1967), That Was Then, This Is Now (1971), Rumble Fish (1975), Tex (1979), Taming the Star Runner (1988), Puppy Sister (1995) and Hawkes Harbor (2004)), three classified as omnibus of novels (Outsiders / Rumble Fish / That Was Then, This Is Now (1995), An S.E. Hinton Collection (2001), and Some of Tim's Stories (2007)), one picture book (Big David, Little David (1995)), and one upcoming omnibus of a novel Some of Tim’s Stories in paperback which consists of â€Å"fourteen original stories depicting adults trapped in lives of missed connections and opportunities†. From among her seven novels, four were made into movies depicting the appeal of their themes to the masses. Most of her themes center on loyalty, transformation accorded through age, identity search, and abandonment. She was able to depict real-life situations written in the point of view of the audience in context. Peck averred in his book review wr itten in New York Times, â€Å"The Outsiders† shocked readers with its frank depictions of adolescent smoking, drinking and â€Å"rumbling†. Although other pop culture offerings had dealt with themes – most notably â€Å"Rebel Without a Cause† and â€Å"West Side Story† – their intended audience was an adult. By contrast, â€Å"The Outsiders† was a story â€Å"for teenagers, about teenagers, written by a teenager†. (Peck par. 1). However, the success of The Outsiders was measured by Hinton in terms of its ability to bring back the joys of reading to children.

Advantages and Disadvantages of Single-Sex Classrooms

Advantages and Disadvantages of Single-Sex Classrooms Single-Sex Classrooms Imagine attending an all boys or all girls school while you were growing up. For some people this was reality, but for most people they have always attended a coeducational school. There are many opinions on single sex classrooms, as the topic arises in areas as a potential solution to enhancing students performances. According to LynNell Hancock the author of, A Room of Their Own, critics worry that single sex classrooms will create more gender inequality and set us back further in time by creating unfairness in the classroom(Hancock, 1996).[1] However even though some may believe it will create a set back in gender equality, having single-sex classrooms may be exactly what America needs to boost international test scores and students performances.Although many critics think single sex classrooms are insufficient because they separate the sexes, they are efficient because there are many ways that they enhance student’s performances by focusing on gender needs and eliminating distractions.[2][3][4]Currently America is seeing a drop in the youth’s test scores in school and are seeking out options for solutions to these low scores. This poor performance has led to calls for changes in public school education. According to the Article Boys and Girls learn differently! A Guide for teachers and parents by Michael Gurian,Patricia Henley, and Terry Trueman, one solution the country may be thinking of to bring up the low scores in classrooms could be single sex classrooms (2001).The reason for this is because the country wants to see how single-sex classrooms would affect the youth’s scores and change their performance in school overall.For our young ones this may mean they will see less coeducational classrooms and more single sex classrooms being implemented around the country and possibly in their own school. Some believe the reason our youth generation are receiving such low scores is possibly because of the social pressure they face each and e veryday in the classroom. According to Peter Simon the author of, Single Sex Classrooms minimized Distractions at Two Buffalo Schools, Simons claims that boys and girls going through adolescents need their own rooms for teaching, so they can focus on school more and not just on each other(Simon,2008). For kids going through adolescence the only thing they fear is being judged and their self image. So being in front of the opposite sex and performing or presenting can create a lot of pressure and damper their scores. This is one of the many reasons people feel that single-sex classrooms are a very effective way to stop physical and mental distractions. Although many feel that single-sex classrooms can decrease distractions, there are many different views people have when it comes to this topic. Smithers and Robinson the authors of, [5][6][7]The paradox of single-sex and coeducational schooling,had conducted a study of reviewing girls and boys together in classrooms and separately to see how it affects the students(2006).They looked at studies from New Zealand, the U.S., Ireland, Canada,the United Kingdom, and Australia and from their findings the two authors had concluded that single sex classrooms does not bring an advantage or disadvantage to the students or the schools. [8][9][10]This is an example of a point of view where they may feel that single-sex and coeducational classrooms make no difference because it all depends on the students in the study and how the teachers are also making a difference for these students. In this study they found that they believe both single-sex classrooms and coeducational classrooms have advantages and disadvantages but neither is considered better or worse. Single-sex classrooms do have their advantages to a child’s performance. In respect to the previous claim there is a beneficial outcome from single sex classrooms. For example at Houghton Academy in Buffalo, New York in a single-sex classroom the amount of students who had passed the states eighth-grade math exam went from 30.8% of students to 60% of students due to the single sex classrooms implemented into the school(Peter,2008). Also there was a rise in english too. The passing rate improved from 28.6% to 40% of the students passing(Peter,2008). This means because of the single-sex classroom the test scores alone improved almost 50% for both subjects.That is a big improvement from coeducational to single-sex classrooms to show that they can make a difference in students’ performances. Many proponents of single-sex education believe that separating boys and girls increases students’ achievement and academic interest. One of those proponents being â€Å"girl power† and encouraging girls to participate more in subjects that are seen as more masculine. According to the article, Still failing at fairness: How gender bias cheats girls and boys in school and what we can do about it, by David Sadker and Karen Zittleman, teachers and schools worry that subjects seen as more masculine decrease young girl’s interests in pursuing these subjects because they feel intimidated(Zittleman and Sadker,2009)[11][12][13]. This means that when girls are in coeducational classrooms they feel less interested in the traditionally masculine courses such as mathematics, technology, engineering, and science because the boys make the classroom setting seem as if it is very competitive and do not allow for girls to participate as much. Author Erin Pahlke explains this in her article, The Effects of Single-Sex Compared With Coeducational Schooling on Students’ Performance and Attitudes,she claims that sin gle sex classrooms empower girls because it allows them to enjoy those masculine classes such as math and science without being intimidated by the boys and feeling that they are in a masculine based classroom(Pahlke,2014). This shows that girls have better confidence and can build their performance in mathematics and science when in single-sex classrooms. Although girls feel more comfortable separated from boys in the classes seen as more masculine, boys may not always benefit as much as girls. Nancy Protheroe author of,Single Sex Classrooms, claims that some teachers explain that they feel that boys feel uncomfortable in this type of classroom setting and that teaching in a single sex classroom of all boys is a demanding job for the teachers(Protheroe, 2009). One of those reasons may be because boys always like to compete with one another so the classroom is just a big competition between those students.This shows that even though one gender may feel more comfortable alone,that boy s may not feel as comfortable, and may not be able to perform better because of the pressure they feel in a masculine based classroom. One factor that can affect whether the student’s performance enhances in a single-sex classroom is the teacher. Some teachers may be willing to adapt to the new single-sex classroom. On the other hand some teachers may not want to teach single-sex classrooms so if they are being forced to teach a class they do not want then the children’s performance will suffer because the teacher doesn’t want to give 100%. For example Michael Gurian and Kathy Stevens explain in their writing,Single Sex Classrooms are Succeeding, that if teachers feel uncomfortable teaching a single sex classroom and feel that it goes against their beliefs they have the option to say no(Gurian Stevens, 2005). This means that if a teacher does not feel that single-sex classrooms is the right idea for the children then they will they have the option to say no. If the teacher can not have a say in the decision and is forced to teach single-sex classrooms that is when you will see no benefits comin g from the children’s performance because of the teachers lack of want to be there. Although for those teachers who would like to teach single-sex classrooms there are training sessions they can take. According to Michael Gurian, Kathy Stevens,Patricia Henley, and Terry Trueman,the authors of,Single Sex Classrooms are Succeeding,there are multiple trainings that teachers have already attended through the National Association for Public Single-Sex Education and the Gurian Institute, so that the teachers can be taught and be aware of the naturally different ways that boys and girls learn in the classroom.(Gurian, Stevens, Henley, Trueman 2009). This means for those teachers who would like to experience teaching in single-sex classrooms that they have a chance to be taught how so that there will be a positive atmosphere in the classroom. Overall the country is trying to find an effective way to help improve students’ scores and performances in school. Some schools are tr ying to implement single sex classrooms. However in single sex classrooms it does not just depend on the children’s willingness to participate. The teachers willingness and positive attitude in the classroom will play big role in how the students’ grades will improve. For those who are in single sex classrooms it will take away their social pressure and hormonal distractions for adolescents. It will also help girls succeed more in masculine seen classrooms because they will not feel the social pressure that those programs are just for boys. The feeling of not being judged or pressured helps students’ scores dramatically because while growing up kids are so worried about self image and not embarrassing themselves that they sometimes forget how important school really is. Author’s Note As a whole my strengths in my paper I believe were integrating many different sources and presenting a counter argument. Also I feel I had very strong sources. Some weaknesses my paper has is I had trouble breaking up the paragraphs because I had sources in them and I was explaining them in depth so it made them very long. Also another weakness is my word choice I feel that I could have used better words to describe certain situations. At this point as I turn in my paper I have revised it about 2-3 times and cut down on paragraphs and switched the format so it made more sense. Some of the paragraphs are now moved around to flow better.However, this has been a work in progress since I made my outline during spring break.My request for feeback is do you think I presented my argument very well or do you believe I jumped all over the place? Regardless of what is written above I spent 2 hours changing and paraphrasing my work so that I did not plagiarize. I feel that I paraphrased what th e authors said instead of copied it now that I went back and changed my paper. I Thank you very much for letting me revise and not failing me right away. This is my 4th revision so it should be okay now. Works Cited Page: Gurian, Michael, et al. Boys and Girls Learn Differently. Ebscohost. Ed. Michael Gurian et al. N.p., n.d. Web. 14 May 2015.http://web.a.ebscohost.com.ezproxy.uwc.edu/ehost/ebookviewer/ebook/ bm[emailprotected]sessionmgr4002 vid=0format=EBrid=1>. Gurian, M., K. Stevens, and P. Daniels. Single Sex Classrooms Are Succeeding. Ebscohost. N.p., n.d. Web. 14 May 2015. . Hancock, LynNell. A Room of Their Own. Ebscohost. N.p., n.d. Web. 14 May 2015. http://web.a.ebscohost.com.ezproxy.uwc.edu/pov/detail/[emailprotected]vid=0hid=4214b data=JnNpdGU9cG92LWxpdmU%3d#db=pwhAN=9606187719>. Pahlke, Erin, Hyde Janet, and Allison M. Carlie. The Effects of Single-Sex Compared With Coeducational Schooling on Students’ Performance and Attitudes: A Meta-Analysis. Ebscohost. N.p., 2014. Web. 19 Apr. 2015. http://web.b.ebscohost.com.ezproxy.uwc.edu/ehost/detail/[emailprotected]vid=1hid=110bdta=JkF1dGhUeXBlPWNvb2tpZSxpcCxjcGlkJmN1c3RpZD1zNTgwNTA4MyZzaXRlPWVob3N0LWxpdmUmc2 NvcGU9c2l0ZQ%3d%3d#db=pdhAN=2014-03898-001anchor=c170>. Peter, Simon. 1. Single-sex classrooms minimize distractions at two Buffalo schools: Principals separate boys and girls in grades seven and eight. ProQuest News and Magazines. N.p., 2008. Web. 19 Apr. 2015.https://ezproxy.uwc.edu/login?url=http://search.proquest.com/docview/ 455627612?accountid=42411>. Protheroe, Nancy. Single-Sex Classrooms. Ebscohost. N.p., May 2009. Web. 19 Apr. 2015. http://web.b.ebscohost.com.ezproxy.uwc.edu/ehost/pdfviewer/ pdfviewer?sid=e933715f-f864-4ca4-8e7a-3ca094fec92a%40sessionmgr110vid=1hid=110>. Sadker, David, and Karen Zittleman. Still Failing at Fairness: How Gender Bias Cheats Girls and Boys in School and What We Can Do about It. Ebscohost. N.p., n.d. Web. 14 May 2015. http://web.a.ebscohost.com.ezproxy.uwc.edu/ehost/pdfviewer/ pdfviewer?sid=9068df59-cbc5-4a39-a0ba-5cf10b5d5796%40sessionmgr4004vid=1hid=42 Smithers, Alan, and Pamela Robinson. The Paradox of Single Sex and Coeducational Schooling. Alansmithers. N.p., n.d. Web. 14 May 2015. http://www.alansmithers.com/reports/Paradox27Jul2006.pdf>. [1]_Re-opened_ [2]Easily identified, and, I think, is a good thesis. [3]_Marked as resolved_ [4]_Re-opened_ [5]Words taken directly from Words taken from https://www.naesp.org/resources/2/Principal/2009/M-J_p32.pdf [6]_Marked as resolved_ [7]_Re-opened_ [8]Words taken directly from Words taken from https://www.naesp.org/resources/2/Principal/2009/M-J_p32.pdf [9]_Marked as resolved_ [10]_Re-opened_ [11]This is taken directly from: http://www.apa.org/pubs/journals/releases/bul-a0035740.pdf [12]_Marked as resolved_ [13]_Re-opened_

a christian nation Essay -- essays research papers

There are many different opinions regarding the idea that the United States is a Christian nation. After reading the Church book, however, I believe it is obvious that our country was not in fact founded on Christianity. Even though many religious right groups insist our laws should enforce the doctrines of Protestant Christianity. The documents written by our founding fathers say otherwise. The U.S. Constitution has no mention of Christianity or Jesus Christ, and is evidence within itself that our country was not founded as a Christian nation. The men who founded the legislature of our country had seen first hand the difficulties that church and state partnerships could create in Europe. The consequences of this partnership are the main reason a secular government was created in the United States. During the colonial period, alliances between religion and government produced oppression and tyranny on our own shores. Many colonies, for example, had laws limiting public office positions to Trinitarian Protestants. While some colonies had officially established churches and taxed all citizens to support them. Dissenters faced many obstacles of persecution. Many people began looking for an end to religious testing. They argued that true faith did not need or want the support of the government. These protestors were not anti-religious. In fact they believed that by allowing people their right to freedom from religion, they would eventually find themselves true Christians. P...

Are we born with knowledge? Essay

Are we born with knowledge? Of course we are. In this speech, I am going to argue about how ability is knowledge and what knowledge we have when we were younger. As a child, we have been brought up by our environment and culture. Without this, what knowledge would we have? Let’s say, the minute a child is born, and you throw this new born baby into a â€Å"swimming pool† or â€Å"water† it will immediately be able to swim or float. Now the question is, where did this baby get the knowledge of being able to swim from? They were born with it. Many people would disagree with the fact that babies are born with knowledge. For example, David Hume suggests that we are born with a ‘Tabula Rasa’ a blank slate. That we have no knowledge at all, and that we need to experience things and have ideas of these things to gain knowledge. However, the reason we ARE born with knowledge is so that we can have a starting point in life. Our baby knowledge is a foundation for us to build and gain knowledge on. An example of this would be, when we are young we have the privilege of being able to eat and sleep or anything else related. As Hume said, if we were born with ‘blank slate’, then we would not even be able to do these simple things. Also, we are born with many abilities to do many things. Such as â€Å"swimming† when we are younger, it is an ability we have. However, when the time comes and we start to learn how to ‘swim’ we lose this natural ability of being able to swim. Many people would argue that ability ISN’T knowledge. Yet, if ability means we are able to do something, then we must be able to KNOW how to do it. This means that ability is KNOWledge. Furthermore, it is clear that we ARE born with knowledge, and that even if our knowledge has changed over the years, it has been growing since then. This proves that when we were born, we all started off with a basic foundation of knowledge, and are able to develop that knowledge as we grow older. ï » ¿Are we born with knowledge? Essay Are we born with knowledge? Of course we are. In this speech, I am going to argue about how ability is knowledge and what knowledge we have when we were younger. As a child, we have been brought up by our environment and culture. Without this, what knowledge would we have? Let’s say, the minute a child is born, and you throw this new born baby into a â€Å"swimming pool† or â€Å"water† it will immediately be able to swim or float. Now the question is, where did this baby get the knowledge of being able to swim from? They were born with it. Many people would disagree with the fact that babies are born with knowledge. For example, David Hume suggests that we are born with a ‘Tabula Rasa’ a blank slate. That we have no knowledge at all, and that we need to experience things and have ideas of these things to gain knowledge. However, the reason we ARE born with knowledge is so that we can have a starting point in life. Our baby knowledge is a foundation for us to build and gain knowledge on. An example of this would be, when we are young we have the privilege of being able to eat and sleep or anything else related. As Hume said, if we were born with ‘blank slate’, then we would not even be able to do these simple things. Also, we are born with many abilities to do many things. Such as â€Å"swimming† when we are younger, it is an ability we have. However, when the time comes and we start to learn how to ‘swim’ we lose this natural ability of being able to swim. Many people would argue that ability ISN’T knowledge. Yet, if ability means we are able to do something, then we must be able to KNOW how to do it. This means that ability is KNOWledge. Furthermore, it is clear that we ARE born with knowledge, and that even if our knowledge has changed over the years, it has been growing since then. This proves that when we were born, we all started off with a basic foundation of knowledge, and are able to develop that knowledge as we grow older.

The Advancement of Robot Technology

The advancement f robot technology is pointless in our world, other than to please the curiosity of the curios; Those who wish for a world full of robots intertwining with humans have not pondered the difficulty and the consequences that may come about with these advancements. An AIR is an advanced interactive robot that, in some cases, is a pet robot that can interact with humans and the environment around them. The Japanese have developed an AIR that is a pet seal named Paro. Paro is a white seal that can interact with humans and the environment by making baby seal noises as its response.Paro can be turned on and off at any time throughout the day, offering control over when it does and does not wish to be used by its users. In experiments, Paro has been found to reduce patient stress, stimulate socialization between patients and their caregivers, and even have the psychological effects of improving relaxation and motivation of its users. Some patients have experienced both positiv e and negative effects of using Paro. In the documentary, â€Å"Mechanical Love†, an elder woman used Paro while in a senior home and she loved it! The other elder women when living in hat same home, however, did not.They became annoyed with Paro as it continued to make noises during the evening game night. The next day, the patient using Paro was sitting alone with another elder woman while eating dinner, the patient said to the woman, â€Å"l really love my pet seal. † The other elder woman responded with a simple, â€Å"Hmpf†, displaying that she wasn't quite fond of Paro. Although some may not enjoy the company of Paro, I encourage the use of the pet seal for those who see a benefit in themselves with the use of it. Humans are born to interact with other humans.When a robot of any kind is introduced, there is always a level of caution and many questions arise during interaction with such robots. Along with the advancement of Paro, the Japanese have also deve loped a robot called a geminoid. A geminoid is a robot â€Å"twin† or clone of a human. One Japanese engineering scientist has developed a geminoid clone that looks almost identical to himself. As also displayed in â€Å"Mechanical love†, the scientists working with this geminoid put him to the test to see how his wife and his daughter would respond to interaction with the robot.The man that they cloned had sensors ttached to his body to portray the movements of his mouth and arms through the robot as ne talked into a microphone that projected his voice out ot the geminoid to mimic himself. The wife was first and she responded quite well to the geminoid. She stated that it was weird, she could deal with the robot but she would much rather prefer her real husband rather than the twin robot. On the other hand, however, the young daughter did not respond well to the robot twin. She found it to be scary and creepy while interacting with him.The father asked the daughter to touch the robot nd she refused because she was too scared. She explained that she wouldn't want the robot in her home in place of her real father in any case. As you can see, there is a high level of caution and awkwardness that is displayed by humans as they interact with the robots. Humans are not born to interact with mechanical beings. Humans are made to form relationships with those who are like them, not with specifically programmed beings. If there is such a day where robots are introduced into our everyday society, a numerous amount of difficulties and communication and relation roblems would arise.With the development of the AIR's and geminoids arises many difficulties of production and advancement of them. The elder women not using Paro thought that it was annoying. Engineering scientists are now attempting to make Paro more responsive to humans and its environment by programming it to know when to make its noises, when not to, and the loudness of its noise responses to e liminate turning it on and off multiple times throughout the day. The wife and daughter that were used in tests with the geminoid responded also saying that the its face and body ovements were awkward compared to a real human.The scientists are now working on making the geminoid's body and facial movements seem more natural, as well as programming the robot able to move and talk by itself, with out the sensors and microphone being used by the human twin. In the future they hope to engineer the robot function in everyday life along with humans. They plan for the robot to express emotion through its voice and body movements and even to perform specific jobs or become a universal robot that can respond to interaction with all humans, environments, and situations.As the scientists advance with such technologies, the robots become more prone to error and wrongdoing. There is always the possibility of a malfunction with the system of the robots, increasing the odds of the geminoid doing s omething that it normally wouldn't do. With the programming of emotion into the geminoid, they may express anger or frustration and become capable of crime or express violence towards its users in certain situations. As so many questions and complications emerge with the development of robot technology, is there really a point to their advancement?Because a large part of the development of robots is to allow them to take over some Job positions to make the production more efficient and more safe, there would be a lack of Jobs for humans. If geminoid technology advances to the point where they cant think, act, and work like humans(like in the documentary Mechanical Love), should our government pay them like we pay humans? There would be no point in paying robots because they cannot eat, they cannot drink, and they have no use in owning a house or any land, and they would have no family to care for. They merely would need a place to stay when they are not being used.Since the goal is to create a geminiod that can think and act like a human, we would have to treat them like a normal human being. Humans would nave to allow them to compete in sports and possibly even run tor president. Allowing them to compete in sports would create an unfair disadvantage to humans. They would be much more durable and be capable of much more athleticism and strength. If we were to allow them to run for president and other governmental positions, geminiods would have some rule over humans and for the majority of umans, that is a very hard subject to imagine.The development of robot technology would have little use a may negatively affect our society as a whole. The goal of the advancement of Paro is to aid certain people with their reduce patient stress, stimulate socialization between patients and their motivation of its users. The goal of the advancement of geminiod technology is allow them to think, act, and respond to their environment, like their human counter parts do. To repl icate the body movements, the responses, the emotions, the learning and emory functions, and Job specifications that humans have would be largely impossible.If this technology were to ever reach that point, there would be more room for error and malfunctions that may lead to crime or violence between humans and robots. Since the robots are clones of humans, we would be required to treat them like humans. This would allow for the next robot superstar sports competitor and possibly the next robot president. If future technology allows this to happen, how would you feel knowing that robots could potentially have rule over humans?